To include your event in the Briefing and Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
Weather:
- Daily weather briefing from the National Weather Service in Jacksonville here.
- Drought conditions here. (What is the Keetch-Byram drought index?).
- Check today’s tides in Daytona Beach (a few minutes off from Flagler Beach) here.
- Tropical cyclone activity here, and even more details here.
Today at a Glance:
Conversations in Democracy: An open, freewheeling discussion on topics here in our community, around Florida and throughout the United States, noon to 1 p.m. at Pine Lakes Golf Club Clubhouse Pub & Grillroom (no purchase is necessary), 400 Pine Lakes Pkwy, Palm Coast (0.7 miles from Belle Terre Parkway). Call (386) 445-0852 for best directions. All are welcome! Everyone’s voice is important. For further information email [email protected] or call Merrill at 804-914-4460.
The Circle of Light Course in Miracles study group meets at a private residence in Palm Coast every Wednesday at 1:20 PM. There is a $2 love donation that goes to the store for the use of their room. If you have your own book, please bring it. All students of the Course are welcome. There is also an introductory group at 1:00 PM. The group is facilitated by Aynne McAvoy, who can be reached at [email protected] for location and information.
Geminizing: I asked Gemini to give me 10 of Pascal’s Pensées if Trump were tweeting them:
THE GREAT WAGER
People say you can’t prove God. Maybe! But if you bet ON him and win, you win EVERYTHING. If you lose, you lose nothing. Smart people take that deal. It’s called winning!
THE FLOATING ROCK
We are all just hanging out in the middle of nowhere. Infinite space on one side, tiny atoms on the other. Very scary stuff. Most people can’t handle it. I handle it better than anyone!
STAY AT HOME
All of humanity’s problems come from one thing: men who can’t sit still in a quiet room. They have to go out and cause trouble. Sad!
THE THINKING REED
Man is just a reed, the weakest thing in nature. But he’s a THINKING reed. The universe could crush him, but the man would still be better because he knows he’s dying. The universe knows nothing!
FAKE HAPPINESS
People spend their whole lives chasing vacations and parties. They’re just trying to distract themselves from thinking about how short life is. Total losers! Get to work!
JUSTICE AND MIGHT
Justice without power is helpless. Power without justice is tyranny. We need to make sure justice is strong and strength is just. We’re going to do it!
TWO EXTREMES
If you tell people they’re just like animals, they get nasty. If you tell them they’re like angels, they get proud. You have to tell them the truth. It’s a disaster!
IMAGINATION
The imagination is a total fraud. It makes little things look huge and huge things look tiny. Don’t let it trick you. Stay focused on the big numbers!
THE HEART’S REASONS
The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing about. We know it in a lot of things. Very true!
VANITY
We want to live an imaginary life in the minds of others. We care more about what people think than who we actually are. A total vanity project. Weak!
The Live Calendar is a compendium of local and regional political, civic and cultural events. You can input your own calendar events directly onto the site as you wish them to appear (pending approval of course). To include your event in the Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
May 2026
Flagler Beach United Methodist Church Food Pantry
Flagler County Drug Court Convenes
Story Time with Miss Kim at Flagler Beach Public Library
Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Palm Coast Democratic Club Recap Meeting
Town of Marineland Commission Meeting
Third Thursday Together in Flagler Beach
“Once on This Island,” At Limelight Theatre
Free For All Fridays With Host David Ayres on WNZF
Scenic A1A Pride Meeting
Friday Blue Forum
Acoustic Jam Circle At The Community Center In The Hammock
“Once on This Island,” At Limelight Theatre
For the full calendar, go here.
From our picture of the Renaissance, its rapacity and crime, its bewildering profusion of baseness, bloodshed and unsettling violence, the reader may well wonder why it was that art flourished so magnificently, There is no absolute explanation. No one knows precisely why art is produced, why Michael Angelo, at such a terrific cost of mental agony, forfeiting all the pleasures of companionship and good living, sold himself to endless creative toil, why Donatello and Brunelleschi, penniless and starving, went off to Rome in their youth to spend their days and nights digging among the bones of antiquity. But this we do know: art inheres in the human soul and under certain conditions manifests itself with extraordinary fertility. Impulses, which, for want of a more definite name, are called spiritual, demand fulfilment, and the artist, viewing the gross activities of life with reason and contemplation, finds order in lawless violence, significance in all experiences and permanence in transitory events. What circumstances are favorable to art is a question we will not attempt to decide. It is, I think, beyond dispute that when man is most free, when no artificial restraints are imposed upon him and it is possible for him to develop his individuality to its fullest capacities, that art is most likely to thrive. Does anyone suppose for a moment, considering the incomparable wealth and variety of Italian art, that such monumental records of imaginative power could have been produced by a civilization that ran along with the humdrum regularity of a Swiss village? The grandeur of Michael Angelo has its analogue in the grandeur of Julius II; we remember Cesare Borgia for his appalling brutality, but the frescoes of Andrea del Castagno contain similar qualities of terrible energy and vengeance; the fanaticism of Savonarola is matched by Ucello’s obsession with the scientific problems of perspective; the sexual proclivities of Alexander VI are not more notorious than those of Cellini; the spirit of mysticism and simple faith, before it was extinguished in the hearts of the ineffectual minority, found its perfect spokesman in Fra Angelico; at the other end of the scale, the elegant and sophisticated tastes of Leo X created a congenial atmosphere for the classical decorum of Raphael. Today we demand more stability and less art, and we may be assured that whenever life is secure and uneventful, art in the aggregate is bound to be a reflex of commonplace experiences.
–From Thomas Craven’s Men of Art (1931).
Dennis C Rathsam says
Democrats will do anything, say anything but they cant back up there lies. Show us all the proof, with photos, of KA$H with a drinking problem? 1st it was Pete, from the war dept, now its the FBI director….Who,s next Baron Trump? The Jackass party better come up some ideas, & a plan for the USA. Hating TRUMP, aint gonna cut it. Democrats are lost on the world stage, while TRUMPS blockaid of Iran has weakens the oil cartel. UAE is gone. We will no longer be held hostage by the desert rats. America has enough oil & natural gas, we don’t need them, they need us.How quickly the Democrats for get the cocaine found in Bidens White house. While being so quick to judge TRUMPS administration. The Covid Coverup, has now come to life front & center, indictments are here…. Lets see how the Jackasses, get out of this one!
Pogo says
Pogo says
trump on drugs
https://am14.mediaite.com/med/cnt/uploads/2026/04/Untitled-design-2026-04-29T105848-294.jpg
Laurel says
Trump likes to tell us what people would do in the past. Well, what people would do with someone like Trump, in the past, is tie him to a pole, tar and feather him, then run him out of town.
Maybe Trump has something there.
Ray W. says
MOTORTREND constructed a story on philosophical differences between an “emerging” industry sector and a “mature” industry sector.
Doug Field, Ford’s EV development chief, explained to the reporter certain philosophical differences Ford has had to adapt between the two industry sectors.
In the “mature” industry sector of internal combustion engines, the primary emphasis is on materials costs, he said, and how best for Ford to eliminate wasteful spending. Ford built, according to Field, a system-wide structure around reducing the costs of assembling gasoline-powered engines.
But electric motor technology, according to Field, is not yet considered a “mature” industry sector (and by inference I argue that neither is EV battery chemistry technology a “mature” industry sector). The primary emphasis for developing and improving an emerging industry sector such as an electric motor is not on cutting materials costs; it is on employee spending. That doesn’t mean that cutting materials costs isn’t important; it means that Ford’s leadership now believes that the company, any company, that can best mature any emerging technology has to emphasize development and innovation over materials cost-cutting.
EV chief Field talked of spending whatever is necessary to identify and hire what he called “20x” employees for the ongoing development of EV motors and then sequestering them as far away as possible from that cost-cutting structure Ford built up around the mature internal combustion engine sector.
“20x” engineers and designers and researchers, according to Field, are those few who produce twenty times the output, i.e., innovation and ingenuity, of normal employees. Once these unique people are hired, they are to be ensconced in Ford’s new “skunk works” facility. By this process of hiring only the most expensive people and then keeping them separate from all other Ford employees, Field said, can Ford further develop the emerging EV technologies that will in time enable Ford’s EV’s to outperform EV’s from every other carmaker.
The focus of “skunk works” engineers and designers and researchers is to completely redesign every aspect of Ford’s “Universal EV” platform, a platform on which a number of new EV products are to be based. Ford’s first such project, to be released in 2027, is a $30,000 mid-sized pickup truck. Every part and every assembly process is designed around that goal. SUV’s, sedans, etc., will come later. By my inference, one redesigned Ford assembly line will be able to deliver multiple dissimilar products constructed on top of a one-piece stamped aluminum framework. Field announced that the skunk works team had already developed a competitive EV motor that costs less to build than any of its competitors’ motors.
To Field, the opportunity window of innovation and ingenuity in EV development will remain open only so long. Inevitably, EV motor technologies will mature. Inevitably, manufacturing focus will shift primacy back to materials cost cutting. If Ford is not at the forefront of the EV industry when this happens, …
Make of this what you will.
Me?
In October 2024, Ford’s CEO, Jim Farley, publicly announced his belief that Chinese EV carmakers were 10 years ahead of the West’s legacy carmakers, including America’s Big 3. If Ford didn’t pivot away from how it had long thought best, he said, it would be the end of Ford.
More recently, car industry journals widely reported that Honda’s CEO had visited an advanced Chinese EV assembly plant and then announced on return to Japan that Honda lacked the ability to compete.
For 18 months now, I have been commenting about Ford’s efforts to leapfrog the Chineses EV juggernaut.
Mr. Farley says that not even he can visit unannounced Ford’s skunk works. Ford is betting billions of dollars on bringing to manufacturing scale its chosen lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) battery chemistry. Theoretically, scalable LMR battery maximums outperform at low cost any other EV battery currently on the market. In one huge jump, Ford could leapfrog every one of its competitors. If, at the same time of the LMR leap, Ford’s new “Universal EV” assembly platform and its new electric motors can be put to use in numerous EV product categories, Ford’s long-term future might be preserved. Big ideas. Big chances. Big potentialities.
Let’s face facts.
An ordinary compact SUV, the nation’s best selling market sector, drives about 500 to 550 miles on a tank of gas, at best. It weighs around 3,500 to 4,000 pounds. It has an engine cranking out between 175 to 225 horsepower. Every car company makes one. Advertising makes all the difference, because there are so few other differences.
The goal of the EV industry, then, is to make a compact SUV that can travel 600 miles on a charge. Any distance farther is a bonus. It has to recharge in the time it takes for a family to stretch their legs, use the restrooms, purchase food and drink, and dump travel trash into receptacles. The battery has to last long enough to carry a charge for at least 300,000 miles. It has to be safe and reliable and adequately powerful. And the battery and motor package has to weigh no more than the combined weight of the engine, transmission, fuel tank and cooling system it is replacing. The rest is just advertising. If the EV SUV undercuts competitor ICE vehicles on price, … it is only a matter of time for ICE demand destruction to set in.
Ray W. says
Among a number of other car brands, Stellantis owns Peugeot; it also partners with China’s Leapmotor to sell Stellantis vehicles in China.
According to a recent Carscoops story, in order to get around EU tariff policies erected to prevent the import of Chinese EV’s into the EU market, Leapmotor recently began assembly of its B-05 SUV EV model in a once-idled Spanish factory owned by Stellantis. Peugeot already sells a comparable SUV EV in the EU market, the E-308.
The reporter writes that the Leapmotor model sells for some $15,000 less than Peugeot’s comparable SUV, with the base Leapmotor B-05 starting at $31,500.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W. says
A short while ago, news stories held that empty oil tankers that previously ran routes from the Persian Gulf to Asian and European refineries and back were being redirected to U.S. oil export ports for onloading, mostly on the Texas coast. Daily rental rates for these tankers had skyrocketed as refinery owners competed for oil deliveries. To get to these Gulf ports, many of the tankers were opting to transit the Panama Canal.
The Los Angeles Times reports that ships normally reserve Panama Canal passage times. Prices to transit the Canal via reservation normally cost $300,000 to $400,000.
But shipowners can bid on openings in the queue, in order to jump ahead of the line.
Normally, according to the story, Panama Canal queue jumps went for an extra $250,000 to $300,000. But, since the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Panama Canal queue jumps have increased in cost to around $400,000. One company reportedly paid $4 million extra to jump the queue.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Many of the new Panamax tankers can carry as much as 2 million barrels of crude oil. That means that added costs arising from Persian Gulf supply chain disruptions can be spread over a lot of oil, but $4 million extra is still $4 million! Refinery owners all over the world may be getting more and more desperate for deliveries of oil volumes, else they close the refineries. Does an extra $4 million above the normal transit fee of between $250,000 and $300,000 just to jump the queue reflect desperation?
Who among us can predict where supply of real barrels of crude oil will be in a month? Three months? A year? Not futures barrels. Real barrels.
Ray W. says
Reuters reports that U.S. crude oil production figures did not change last week. And, U.S. refinery throughput numbers did not change last week. But U.S. crude oil exports jumped to a record high last week, drawing down overall U.S. crude oil inventories by 6.2 million barrels to 459.5 million barrels.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
America is comparatively well positioned to weather the Strait of Hormuz oil shock. Only the Chinese have greater crude oil reserves. But, American energy producers are still selling their oil to the highest international bidder and prices are climbing. Export volumes of American crude oil will likely continue to climb.
Ray W. says
The Wall Street Journal reports that earlier today 11 of 12 voting members of the FOMC chose to keep lending rates steady at 3.5%-$3.75%. One member voted to lower the rates. Of the 11 who voted to keep rates steady, three changed their forward leaning status to leaning toward raising rates.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Nineteen Fed members, policy makers and economists all, meet eight times each year to debate Fed policy amid consideration of the latest economic data. Twelve of the 19 get to vote on the setting of lending rates, among several other options.
I commonly assert that I am not an economist. But I can read. I can study. Of the 12 who get to vote, one thought conditions ripe for rate cutting. There think the latest economic data pushes them toward a possible future increase. President Trump repeatedly insists that 1% should be the figure.
The initial first-quarter GDP estimate soon drops. Two revisions, as always, are planned. Fourth quarter GDP growth after the two revisions was 0.5%. GDP growth for all of 2025 was 2.1%, down from 2.8% growth in 2024. Job growth, one of the two statutory Fed mandates, has cratered to negative numbers in many of the past nine months.
Inflation, the second of the two Fed mandates, remains well above the 2% target rate, but new data is due for release.
There is a lot of lying and lie laundering on the FlaglerLive site. As midterms near, the disinformation and misinformation will likely accelerate. Every FlaglerLive reader ought to know by now to never accept at face value anything posted by certain commenters.
Of course, my commenting style is to ask each reader to check on whatever I post. Decide for yourself. I identify a news outlet, then posit certain positions taken directly from the story. I quote from the reporter’s sources, or quote from the reporter’s language. In the WSJ article at issue in this comment, anyone can look up for themselves what the Fed did this morning. I openly state that my position is to oppose the dishonest who wander among us, the hateful who threaten us, the vengeful who seek to incite the more gullibly stupid among us.
Pogo says
Make what you will, of this
“The next casualty of the Gulf War is already here
Story by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard• 1d • 5 min read
The world has lost 40pc of its helium supply since the start of the Gulf war, first from Qatar and then from Russia.
We will find out soon enough whether the global digital economy can shrug off losses on this scale and whether political leaders will allow the AI boom to keep gobbling up an ever greater share of the scarce helium that remains.
Industry cannot make advanced AI chips or semiconductors below 10 nanometres without ultra-high purity helium to cool the wafers and stabilise the plasma for etching. Even workhorse chips for cars and computers require lower-grade helium at 99.999pc purity.
But we also need helium for other high priorities: in nuclear power, advanced weaponry, aerospace, fibre-optic cables, quantum computing, chromatography or to cool superconducting magnets in MRI machines.
“Everybody is scrambling around trying to scoop up whatever they can find in the world,” said Phil Kornbluth, the founder of Kornbluth Helium and former head of gases at BOC.
There are no easy substitutes. Liquid helium is the coldest known substance on Earth, with a boiling point of -269°C.
It cannot be synthesised artificially – it comes from the radioactive decay of thorium and uranium – and is hard to store. China has strategic stockpiles of everything but not for this one vital input…”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/the-next-casualty-of-the-gulf-war-is-already-here/ar-AA21V4Tq?ocid=nl_article_link
Me?
With the insane goblin on the toilet in the golden bunker; corrupt crackpot cabinet, and everything else blessing life here in duh Free Republic of Floriduh — we’re screwed. And it’s only Wednesday.
Sherry says
Thank you Pogo. . . This whole horrible Helium debacle was not on my radar. Without computer chips the world’s economy is about to grind to a halt and hardly anyone is sounding the alarm!
trump’s fu@#&*$ ballroom will still get built though. . .
Laurel says
Now this:
He’s from Barcelona.
Sherry says
Kash (CRASH) Patel. . . what a fu@#$%& JOKE!
Hey Maga. . . while you complain about DEI ad nauseam . . . here’s a list trump’s “corrupt” hand picked choices for powerful jobs that adversely affect our daily lives. . . NOT one Maga peep about this:
1. FAMILY. . . “Unqualified” Son In-Law jared kushner. . . raking in corrupt millions due to his political/family ties and influence.
2. LOYALTY. . . “Unqualified” hegseth/patel/bondi/noem/kennedy/gabbard. . . etc. etc.
3. BARBIES. . . bondi and noem for sure. . . who knows how many more
Pete Hegseth (Secretary of Defense): A former Fox News host and Army National Guard veteran, Hegseth has been criticized for having no experience managing a large-scale government agency or complex military operations.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Secretary of Health and Human Services): Although an environmental lawyer, Kennedy lacks a medical degree or formal health policy experience. Public health experts have expressed alarm over his lack of scientific expertise and his past promotion of vaccine skepticism.
Tulsi Gabbard (Director of National Intelligence): A former Democratic congresswoman and military veteran, Gabbard has been cited for a “profound lack of intelligence experience” necessary to oversee the nation’s 18 spy agencies.
Linda McMahon (Secretary of Education): While she served as the Small Business Administrator in Trump’s first term, McMahon has little direct experience within the public education system.
Sean Duffy (Secretary of Transportation): A former congressman and reality TV personality, Duffy has been noted for lacking a significant public profile or technical background in the transportation sector.
Lee Zeldin (EPA Administrator): A former congressman, Zeldin has also been identified as lacking a deep technical or regulatory profile in environmental science or management.
Howard Lutnick (Secretary of Commerce): A billionaire business leader and Wall Street broker, Lutnick entered the administration with no prior government experience.Eric Scott Turner (Secretary of HUD): A former NFL player and businessman, Turner’s selection has been noted for his lack of traditional political or housing policy experience.